Reflection

No one can imagine the joy that I feel as I type about my passion and hope for my future and the wonderful insights that I have gained from all of my colleagues.  It is more than a privilege to express the feeling of dedication, determination, and longevity that I have possessed throughout this course that has helped to become a better professional, both knowledgeably and socially and to believe that dreams really are possible. 

For my future continued success, my passionate hope is to try to touch the inner, outer, and mental lives of the children I will work with especially and hope to have great partnerships with families in the program.   I am adamant about touching the lives of children because every child deserves to be curious about their social identities and explore themselves so that they can make sense of this world of differences.  I want every child to understand difference and be acquainted with those who are different because there is much to learn about different cultures and ways of living that helps children develop a sense of pride about themselves and to care and connect to human diversity.  Focusing on the WHOLE child helps to develop the social, emotional, and cognitive abilities that will help our children navigate effectively through life. 

Having partnerships with families is required in this field of study.  Professionals have to involve families because they know their children best, and it is relevant that I include them in curriculum planning.  You always want parents to feel welcome and non-hesitant about participating with activities.  What I have learned is that there is so much you can learn from parents, why take the opportunity for granted? 

 As I close, I would like to thank each of my colleagues, who have shared thoughts, insights, references, questions and more to the classroom these past 8 weeks.  It has been indeed a pleasure to share such valuable time together within our classroom.  We have almost reached our mountaintop!!  I am excited for each one of you and I hope and wish you all the best of moments in future endeavors!

Very Respectfully,

Talisha

Impacts on Emotional Development

The Area that I chose to investigate was West and Central Africa.  I chose this region because I wanted to learn about this region in regard to the conditions that children and families face and think of ways to promote healthy development.  Some of the challenges that I read about were a little disturbing.  I was disturbed to read that children in this area normally get their rights violated daily than any other region in the world (UNICEF, 2011).  The website also states that it is common for children to die from malaria, diarrheal diseases and diseases such as measles every 2 out of 10 children.  I was saddened to read about the malnutrition rates in this region as malnutrition is the cause of high mortality rates.  It was stated that a percentage of children do not reach their fifth birthday.  This region has high poverty levels and 40% of the children do not attend school.  This is definitely a challenge that can affect the social skills, intellect, and mental capacity of these children.  The children who do attend school, particularly girls, face sexual and other forms of violence in school.  Children are involved in trafficking, child labor, children in armed conflicts, and children even being victims of harmful traditional practices (UNICEF, 2011).  This is a huge factor in the children not being able to excel in education, or any other milestones in life because the resources are not available and no one to show the children the way or road to success.  Water and sanitation are issues faced in the region as well.  This affects the health of individuals who live in the area.  From the educational aspect, high drop- out rates and low transition rates are challenges faced as well.  The government is hit so hard by poverty that is almost impossible to keep sufficient and highly qualified teachers and learning materials to help pave the way for our children.  Quality education is not available to the children due to these challenges.  Children who want to go to school may live far and have to walk and their parents do not want to take that risk.  The shortage of teachers, low teacher salaries, and limited training and development opportunities adds to the struggle.  These challenges definitely affect the emotional aspect of children because the early years lay the foundation for healthy development for children.  This is the time for great growth and vulnerability.  These years are more important for the social and emotional development.  The challenges that I have presented can definitely impair the child’s mental health, and also affect their cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development.  From a personal standpoint, I realize how grateful I am to have windows of opportunities available for me to better myself in many ways.   Reading about West and Central Africa helped me to focus on why I chose to study early childhood.  I feel more sensitive to the fact that innocent children who have the desire to better themselves do not have the resources to do so.  From a professional standpoint, I am more eager to advocate for children’s rights and help make resources as available as possible so that children have equal opportunity for the road to success.  Children deserve the best, no matter what culture they are a part of, financial status, gender, or race and/or physical ability.  Windows of opportunity should await every child’s future. 

References

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

Trustees of Columbia University, The. (2010). National Center Center for Children Children in PovertyPoverty (NCCP). Retrieved from: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_882.html

Sexualization

The topic of sexualization is indeed a touchy topic to discuss, but it is indeed the truth that is happening around the world with young children.  What I have to say about sexualization is that I am afraid of what will happen next with our children in years to come.  At age nine, I was not worried about how pretty I was; better yet even thinking about a boyfriend was not in the picture.  I was too busy trying to play sports with boys.  This article helped me to understand that it is acceptable for children to be curious about sex and sexuality, but the conflict is how they are conceptualizing it.  I understand that media and popular culture play enormous roles in the process, but what are parents doing to explain sex and intimacy at age-appropriate levels?  Children know more than enough about these topics at a very early age, but with older siblings, it seems hard to keep topics like that secretive.  Some examples of sexualization would be: shows that portray young girls in pageants with heavy mascara and make up, possibly wearing bathing suits and heels; or fashion dolls with very revealing clothes, fishnet stockings and more; or underwear that is shaped like thongs available to young children.  All of these are readily available for young children to view which could easily trigger thoughts about sex.  This affects young girls more than boys because girls think that they are supposed to be beautiful, thin, and sexy in order for boys to like them.  Children could possibly fail in school if they solely concentrate on how they look or concentrate on viewing girls as sex objects.  This could develop low self-esteem, and there is a possibility that adults or professionals will look at children differently because of this. Professionals want the best for our children.  Professionals must let parents know the value of parental guidance and advice to their children.  If it is possible, professionals need to help children reject and resist pressure from media and provide age appropriate terms for them to understand. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Being that I have not yet had the opportunity to work on a daily basis with children other than on volunteer work, I have not experienced many of these –isms within a childhood setting.  However, by me being knowledgeable and aware of what to expect, I can say that –isms do affect teachers or educators within the early childhood sector.  For instance, if there is a situation presented into my classroom or presence pertaining to stereotypes or prejudice in my personal life, I would probably respond in positive ways since I am learning about how to be anti-bias in a well-rounded way.  I personally feel that it depends on the attitude of the person to be able to handle stereotypes and prejudice well.  I have always been able to adjust to change, work-related or life-related.  That is one of the strong aspects of my character.  There may be something said or done to me that could possible hurt me emotionally, but I am strong-minded and am able to remain focused on my career.  If it ever gets to the point where I am overly frustrated or feel overwhelmed with –isms pertaining to my personal life, I may become disconnected from work or even side-tracked from teaching anti-bias curriculum.  I may even begin to feel that parents are becoming bias toward me as well when they really are not.  Children will begin to notice a change in daily activities if I am not as enthusiastic as I normally am or begin to ask questions about how I am feeling.   Families may feel that I am disinterested in teaching their children and perhaps will begin to evaluate my classroom more.  There are many consequences pertaining to experiencing –isms in your personal life, it depends on how you as the person responds.